Case resolved outside SCC, what is the position now.

ch750536

Background.
2008 laptop bought for €800
3 months after warranty expires obvious mobo fault.
returned to retailer, refused to fix
Took issue to SCC
They offered to replace laptop , SCC advised we accept.
We have nothing in writing yet, however, I believe a refund is an alternative (we had shocking treatment not added in the above summary). If they deliver essentially a laptop worth €400, am I right in thinking this is no deal? Surely the replacement laptop should have a value of €800?

Ta.

dudara

It's a 2-3 year old laptop, and the law is all about being reasonable. I would think that you should accept that you have used the laptop for somewhere between 2-3 years and that it has depreciated. I would expect the laptop to be replaced by one of similar spec, not of equal value.

crazyderk

This happened to many customers when I worked in PC World a while ago, (so I don''t know if you want to call it common practice now or not) but if you look at it from a spec wise point of view

You purchased a (lets say) laptop with 2gbs ram and 250 gb hard drive with what ever extras for 800 euro 2-3 years ago

now you can purchase the same machine for 400 euro

If the retailer had of done a straight swop most people would be happy as they got an exchange same spec etc (which under consumer law is part of the three r's), its only when a number comes into it people see it as "I'm getting less money, that's not fair....."

nowadays 800 euro would get you a machine almost twice as powerful as the one you have,

the money they offer will most likely get you a better machine than the one you had so relax about it, there's more important things to worry about in life!

ch750536

Thanks for advice. I think if I pushed for refund I would get it, the documented issues were simply unbelievable. The laptop broke after 15 months, issue raised end of July 2010. From that point forward I was left without either a machine, a power supply or any reasonable explanation as to what was going on till I issued the court proceedings in Dec.
I still have no charger (the first time they returned it as 'factory installed - fixed' there were bare wires showing on some other charger(not the one I gave them) they returned it with).
I'm certain I could go down the route of refund only, I have no confidence in them to supply the level of service required.
For this reason I expect them to offer a laptop of €800 value now, this way they can keep some of the profit at least (or perhaps not incur such a great loss). Offering a laptop of similar spec is not going to entice me down the 'replace' route - as yet I have nothing in writing either way.
Am I being unreasonable?

91011

you wouldn't get a full refund even if it went to scc. A value would be placed on the use you would have had and this would be deducted from original cost. Also the scc would take into account today's price - same way they woudl take into account if a product had increased substantially in price.

Courts tend to be fair to both parties.

slave1

2008 laptop bought for €800
3 months after warranty expires obvious mobo fault.
returned to retailer, refused to fix
Took issue to SCC

It might help us if you can fill in the gap period ater the first three months to now, if you have lots of communication with the co. in question then I would not quickly agree to you having to suffer loss of value if you did not make use of the product, I had a similar recommendation from the SCC with Dell however I had lots of communication records so refusted to accept replacement, I got 100% of my money back.
In my case if I felt the need to take a co. to court I really don't want to enter into another contract with them i.e. replacement.

Xcellor

ch750536 wrote: »

Surely the replacement laptop should have a value of €800?
.

How do you figure that out? You used the laptop. If it broke down on day 1 or a few weeks after purchase a laptop of the value of 800 would be reasonable.

Whatever system you get should be equal in performance in all aspects, most likely anything you get today would be equal if not greater. Only thing to watch for is the video card a newer model does not always mean equal or better than previous.

ch750536

Xcellor wrote: »

How do you figure that out? You used the laptop. If it broke down on day 1 or a few weeks after purchase a laptop of the value of 800 would be reasonable.

Because we have documented error after error on the part of the supplier in the way the issue was handled and I don't wish to deal with them anymore.
I have not had a working laptop since June, only 15 months after the purchase. I have the option of repair, replace or refund, I believe in court if we pushed for a refund we would get one, hence €800.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Go ahead then and let us know how it went. 3 months after warrenty period PC was not valued at €800. But you seem to know best.;)

foggy_lad

Clyde Tender Victim wrote: »

Go ahead then and let us know how it went. 3 months after warrenty period PC was not valued at €800. But you seem to know best.;)

any shop or manufacturer warranty will have no bearing on any small claims court decision!

Generally it is goods to the value of what you paid originally less any reasonable depreciation but as the laptop lasted only 15 months and the company failed to do anything right after that I would ask for a refund in court as I would say I had lost all faith in the company providing after sales care or servicing or redress in the future.

ch750536

Clyde Tender Victim wrote: »

Go ahead then and let us know how it went. 3 months after warrenty period PC was not valued at €800. But you seem to know best.;)

Thanks for your points, appreciated & understood. Not sure which way to take this yet.